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American Samoa was originally inhabited by Polynesians as early as 850 AD. The first known European to sight the Samoan islands was DutchexplorerJacob Roggeveen, who discovered the chain of islands in 1722 on his search for Terra Australis. Early Western contact included a battle in the 18th century between French explorers and islanders on Tutuila, for which the Samoans became blamed in the West and were given a reputation of being hostile. International rivalries between the German Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the United States regarding the Samoan Islands were settled by the Tripartite Convention of 1899, which partitioned the islands into two parts: eastern and western. The eastern group of islands became in possession of the United States (Tutuila in 1900 and Manu'a in 1904) and is referred to today as American Samoa; the western group, referred to as German Samoa, was ceded to Germany and is now the Independent State of Samoa. The eastern Samoan Islands were first referred to as American Samoa on July 7, 1911. The most recent island to become part of American Samoa, Swains Island, was officially annexed to the territory in 1925.

A majority of the public sector employees on American Samoa work for the island's territorial government. The one tuna cannery, StarKist, exports hundreds of millions of dollars worth of canned tuna to the United States every year. The other cannery, Samoa Packing, closed in 2009 due to its employees being granted minimum wage. The American Samoan economy was highlighted in Congress in 2007, at the request of Samoan Delegate to the United States House of RepresentativesEni Faleomavaega.

Between the years 2002 and 2007, real gross domestic product of American Samoa increased at an average annual rate of 0.4 percent. The annual growth rates of real GDP ranged from negative 2.9 percent to positive 2.1 percent. The unpredictability of real GDP was primarily the result of changes in the export of canned tuna. At the time, the tuna canning industry was the largest private employer on the island.

Since its enactment, the Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938 has contained provisions for American Samoa, in which it cites the territory's limited economy. Wages on American Samoa are based on recommendations given at a Special Industry Committee meeting two times each year. The Act initially contained provisions for other U.S. territories, but were later phased out as they developed more diverse economies.

As a result of the passage Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, minimum wage in American Samoa was increased that year by 50 cents per hour, and will continue to increase by the same amount every year thereafter until the minimum wage equals $7.25 per hour, as it is in the United States. In response to this, the Chicken of the Sea tuna cannery on American Samoa was shut down and 2041 employees were laid off. The other major tuna cannery on the islands, StarKist, began laying off workers in August 2010, with plans to lay off about 800 workers due to the minimum wage increases. Instead of laying off minimum wage workers, GovernorTogiola Tulafono suggested reducing the salaries and bonuses of higher-ranked employees.

The unemployment rate on American Samoa was 29.8% in 2005, and improved to 23.8% in 2010. The GDP per capita in the neighboring islands of Samoa was approximately $8000 in 2007. American Samoa's economy is generally better than that of its neighbors, as the GDP per capita in American Samoa was more than twice as high as Samoa's during the same year.